Winter Newsletter 2009
Looking back
In this year of great anniversaries (Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Mendelssohn) it was no surprise that Bampton Classical Opera should turn (for the third time) to the unaccountably neglected operas Haydn, who died 200 years ago on 31 May 1809. Despite a clear commitment in this anniversary year by the media and orchestras, there have been few companies who have delved into his operas – in the UK none of the larger companies or festivals was prepared to tackle this most refreshing and humane of operatic composers.
Our choice was the early farce Le pescatrici - as about a quarter of the score was lost in the Esterháza palace fire of 1779, we adopted the excellent ‘reconstruction’ by the great Haydn scholar HC Robbins Landon (see also below). The fishy narrative of Goldoni’s brilliant libretto, charting the amorous goings-on in a southern Italian fishing community, made for a whole shoal of fishmongery jokes in the translation. With colourful scenery of 1950s beach-huts (by Mike Wareham and Anthony Hall) and confident promises from the meteorologists that we were due for a scorching summer, we were all set for a delightful recreation of the Mediterranean in the Bampton Deanery garden in July (with further performances at Westonbirt and St John’s Smith Square, London).
Unfortunately the weather-men could not have been more wrong. The lashing rain which arrived in Bampton may have gladdened our fake fish and lobsters, but drove musicians and audience into the shelter of St Mary’s for the opening night. The distinguished Haydn musicologist Richard Wigmore delivered his scholarly pre-performance talk in the Lady Chapel to the background rattle of the crew shifting staging, props and costumes. The goodwill and whole-hearted enjoyment of the audience nevertheless were palpable, despite the inevitable lack of scenery which had to remain outside, forlorn and dripping. On the second night we were able to revert to the garden venue, although our trepidation was justified by a couple of brief showers. But whatever the weather, there was nothing lack-lustre about the performances, and the general response has been a most satisfying vote as “the best yet”. As Fiona Maddocks, reviewing with great warmth in Opera magazine, concluded “We had a whale of a time!”
Meanwhile in July we were busy at two other prestigious venues. We revived our 2008 Westonbirt double-bill of Mozart’s Apollo and Hyacinth and Gluck’s Le cinesi for an appearance with our period-instrument Bampton Classical Players for the Cheltenham Festival. The restrained classical splendour of the Pittville Pump Room was an ideal venue for these small-scale operas, although the Festival’s marketing ploy of opera picnics-in-the-park was again foiled by the thunder-clouds and unpleasant rain. At the end of the month we took Le cinesi tothe perfect acousticof London’s Wigmore Hall where, despite the tiny stage preventing any set, costumes or acting, the delicious humour of the piece and Murray Hipkin’s translation still came through to a very warm audience. On this occasion we coupled it with another Gluck ‘opera’ La danza (an opera in name but a cantata in truth) which we believe was a UK première. We have great faith in the superb quality of Gluck’s neglected operatic music, and we plan to showcase other works by him in due course.
One other operatic project took us into the nineteenth century with Schubert’s outrageous take on Lysistrata, his one-act opera Die Verschworenen (The Conspirators) – we chose this as an appropriate piece for our fifth education project at Queen’s College, Harley Street, London. With careful nurturing by baritone Edmund Connolly and tenor Tom Raskin, the standards of performance reached by the teenage singers was remarkable, and the project proved one of immense significance and satisfaction. At least one of the students is now determined on a professional singing career as a result. Opera magazine commented “Few of the period opera companies, who spend so much time and effort trying to recover the original feel of a work through elaborate academic digging, come close to conjuring up the atmosphere of authenticity of these performances. Schubert and his friends would surely have felt at home with Bampton’s small production (directed by Jeremy Gray) and tiny orchestra (conducted by Gilly French), so full of warmth, personality and camaderie”.
Looking ahead
The UK première of The Marriage of Figaro will dominate our attentions in 2010. Surely some mistake? But from the company which has performed Don Giovanni - by Gazzaniga - and The Barber of Seville - by Paisiello - you can be sure that Figaro will not be heard in its usual Mozartian guise. For several years Dr David Cranmer of the University of Lisbon has been unearthing and editing the manuscripts of one Marcos Antonio da Fonseca de Portugal (1762-1830), whose fifty or so operas written in Portugal, Italy and Brazil made him one of the most feted composers of his age and the only classical-period Portuguese composer to enjoy a successful international career . We are delighted to be collaborating with Dr Cranmer and his Portuguese team of musicologists who have been making a new edition of the opera from the manuscript score in Florence: as a result we will be giving the first modern performance of an opera which was premièred in the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice in 1800. Given that Beaumarchais’ original French play, notorious and censored in its time, is one of the great comic scenarios, it is hardly surprising that one or two composers felt brave enough to tackle what had already been so consummately set by Mozart. As at the turn of the century Venice was suffering under the political and military threat of Austria, Mozart was not so popular there, opening the way for Marcos de Portugal’s elegant and fizzy Italian setting. It is undoubtedly going to be an interesting experience next summer encountering Susanna, Figaro, the Almavivas and Cherubino with unfamiliar music. Such a re-encounter with what we have always taken for granted is always refreshing and enlightening. Performances of La pazza giornata (The Mad Day) ovvero Il matrimonio di Figaro will be at Bampton, Westonbirt and St John’s (see boxed text for details). We are delighted to welcome back Robin Newton, who conducted Paer’s Leonora in 2008, to conduct. We are currently auditioning singers and as usual we expect a blend of familiar and new artists. We take great pride in the ensemble of our singers and we are confident we will have an outstanding line-up for this delightful and slightly subversive première.
We always like to have a second opera on the go and what better a piece than Schubert’s The Conspirators? The comic operatic style of Gilbert and Sullivan was closely modelled on Schubert’s neglected stage music, and The Conspirators is a wonderful confection, combining fun and sublimity. As with Haydn, Schubert suffers from a bad press for his operas and The Conspirators, once popular, is eminently due for revival. Following our student performances in February this year we are looking forward to at least two professional performances in 2010. Venues will be at Cokethorpe School (a fine 18thC country-house very close to Bampton) and Wotton House near Aylesbury. Dates in the autumn are to be confirmed.
St Beornwald’s Day concert, 21 December 2009
We always mark the shortest day of the year, which is Bampton’s obscure Anglo-Saxon patron Saint’s Day, with a concert in the grand medieval parish-church. Following very popular concerts in the previous two years devoted to Vivaldi and Bach, this Christmas we join the extensive celebrations of Handel’s 250th anniversary with a concert again blending familiar and rare. Arias from Messiah and a suite from the Water Music (we trust that will not tempt fate) will be coupled with one of his loveliest but least-known works, the early dramatic cantata Apollo and Daphne. Like the Marcos de Portugal Figaro this cantata also has a Venetian connection, as it was begun there in 1709, finished the following year in Hanover. With music of ravishing expressiveness, this miniature opera is, according to the CD sleeve, “a mythological storm in a teacup” and relates how the lovely nymph Daphne rejects the yearning attentions of the god Apollo and only escapes his clutches by turning herself into a laurel tree. At Bampton, Gilly French will sing the arboreal nymph and John Lofthouse her hapless pursuer, with the Bampton Classical Players, conducted by Benjamin Bayl. By the end of December, St Mary’s Bampton will be warmed with a newly-installed central heating boiler and there’s always the evocative candlelight and mulled wine to stave off the winter chill.
Personnel
We continue to be indebted to so many volunteers, especially in Bampton, who give their time, expertise and energy so willingly. We have also greatened benefited from the efforts of our part-time Administrator, Sarah Priday, who has strengthened several aspects of our work with great success. Sarah can be contacted at sarah@bamptonopera.org, and she is a good point of contact for any enquiries or offers.
Friends of Bampton Classical Opera
We are very grateful to those Friends who have gone over to a standing order arrangement, providing a stable flow of support into the Opera. Nearly all our Friends also are on a Gift Aid arrangement, and this is enormously beneficial to us as a registered charity. Friends arrangements are dealt with by Michael St John-Parker and Sarah Priday, who would be delighted to hear from you if you would like to join and support us in this vital way. We are planning a new drive on Friends recruitment in the New Year, so please spread the word about the satisfaction of being a Friend of Bampton Classical Opera!
Life and Times
Our most enjoyable occasional series of Life and Times (previous guests have included Felicity Lott, Brian Kay and Bonaventura Bottone) will continue on Saturday 6 March when the internationally renowned counter-tenor James Bowman will talk about his life and music. This will be hosted by our Chairman, Chris Hodges at his home in Aynho, near Banbury. As it is specifically a fund-raising event, tickets will be £50, to include drinks and a light supper. We will be sending invitations to the Friends in due course, who will have priority booking, but if you are not a Friend and would like to come please contact us on mail@bamptonopera.org or 020 7592 9102 and we will add you to the list.
Mailing List
It is very helpful to have email addresses so that we can send out fewer hard-copies of publicity and information. If you are happy to go over to electronic communications (three or four a year) please would you email sarah@bamptonopera.org. Please remember to let us know if you change your address – both electronic and terrestrial!
Dates for your Diary
7.30pm Monday 21 December 2009
St Beornwald’s Day concert: Handel, by candlelight
St Mary’s, Bampton
Tickets £10 from the Cotton Club or telephone 01367 810769
Saturday 6 March 2010
The Life and Times of James Bowman: fundraising evening at Aynho. Tickets £50
mail@bamptonopera.org or 020 7592 9102
Friday – Saturday 23 – 24 July, The Deanery Garden, Bampton, Oxfordshire
Sunday 29 August, Westonbirt School, Gloucestershire
Thursday 7 October, St John’s Smith Square, London (with the London Mozart Players)
Marcos de Portugal, The Marriage of Figaro (UK première)
Tickets for Bampton and Westonbirt: £28.50, on sale from 1 April
Tel 01367 810769
On-line www.bamptonopera.org
Tickets for St John’s, prices to be announced, on sale from 1 September:
020 7222 1061 and www.sjss.org.uk
Schubert, The Conspirators
Performances at Cokethorpe and Wotton, autumn: details to be announced
Sponsoranaria!
We’ll shortly be announcing a Sponsor-a-Figaro-aria scheme whereby you can support specific arias and ensembles in The Marriage of Figaro. We will be inviting donations so that you can be closely linked in putting this witty and intriguing opera on the stage.
Sponsors will be named in our programme and will receive a copy of the music of the first page of their aria, signed by the relevant performer(s). As with the Friends, there will be an invitation to post-performance drinks at Bampton and Westonbirt.
HC Robbins Landon
As you may have read, the great authority on Haydn and Mozart, HC Robbins Landon, died on 20 November, aged 83. No-one has done more to further the cause of Haydn, and HCRL’s copious books and publications, many editions of scores, and lectures and broadcasts have informed and facilitated Haydn performance worldwide for several decades. That we able to perform Le pescatrici was thanks to Robbins Landon’s performing edition of 1965, made for the Holland and Edinburgh Festivals. The preface which he wrote to that edition typifies his modesty and yet pride in his work – “Our role in the reconstruction is no more important than that of an expert restorer of antique furniture, for whom the greatest praise can only be that the final result, the missing leg of the table, is indistinguishable form the rest”. In fact, Robbins Landon’s “fourth leg” of Le pescatrici has its own distinctive quality, and the rich harmonic language and fluidity of some of his music – especially the powerful sweep of the ensemble in which Lindoro uncovers the weapon used to murder Prince Casimiro – seems closer to the Mozart of Don Giovanni than to Haydn. But as all of us discovered when working on this production, there was no sense of weakness or disappointment in any of the Robbins Landon sections and his reconstruction makes a totally compelling completion of this otherwise fragmentary and therefore unperformable opera.
Bumper baby boomer
We are delighted to announce the principals of the future, in the form of the recent arrivals of Theodore Johnson (now two-and-a-half, to soprano Amanda Pitt), Eva Raskin (to tenor Tom), Rosie Knight (to mezzo-soprano Serena Kay) and Arthur Merryweather (to baritone Nicholas).
